The invention is related to a cooking apparatus, especially an apparatus for use in the field, for example, over an open fire.
Cooking over an open flame creates a hazard and inconvenience for the cook. Turning the food over or taking it off or on the grill may sometimes involve reaching into the fire or being exposed to the smoke from the fire. These problems may be addressed by using a cooking apparatus having a grill on an arm that the cook may swing in or out of the fire.
The arm on such a grill, however, must be adjusted to have an optimal height. Some foods require a closer proximity to the fire than others so the height of the grill must be adjusted before or during meal preparations. Moreover, the heat of the fire may change with time as fuel is added and burns away. Thus, an arm that is readily adjustable is needed.
The present invention has certain embodiments that address these problems. The arm may be placed in a holder that is easily secured to a bar and adjusted to move the arm up or down on the bar relative to a fire. The holder requires no tools or extra parts to be moved; instead, it may be conveniently grasped and moved to a new position that is stable and securely holds the arm. The holder has a biasing member that exerts a force against the bar to secure the arm""s position on the bar. A user may counteract the force to allow the holder to be moved on the bar.
An embodiment of the invention includes an apparatus having a bar, a holder, and an arm. The bar has a central axis passing through its first end and its opposing second end. The holder is joined to the bar and the arm. The bar and the arm are preferably disposed orthogonally to each other. The holder has a biased member operably coupled to the holder that is shiftable between a resting position and a moving position. And the biased member has an opening that receives the bar, so that the biased member is biased against the bar and binds the bar in the resting position to prevent movement of the arm parallel to the central axis. The biased member allows movement of the bar in a direction parallel to the central axis when the bias is countered to shift the biased member to the moving position.
An embodiment of the invention is a kit for a cooking apparatus. The kit has a bar, a holder, and an arm. The bar has a central axis passing through a first end and an opposing second end. The holder may be joined to the bar and to an arm. The holder includes a resilient biased member operably joinable to the holder to be shiftable between a resting position and a moving position. The biased member has an opening for receiving the bar. The biased member is disposable on the bar so that, in a resting position, it can exert a force against the bar to bind the bar in the resting position to prevent movement of the arm parallel to the central axis of the bar. The biased member allows movement of the bar in a direction parallel to the central axis when the bias is countered to shift the biased member to the moving position. The kit may have instructions for assembly of the bar, arm, and holder.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method for assembling a cooking apparatus. One step is to procure a bar having a central axis passing through a first end and an opposing second end of the bar. An arm is also procured. Also procured is a holder that has a biased member operably coupled to the holder that is shiftable between a resting position and a moving position. The biased member has a first opening that receives the bar and a second opening that receives the arm. A user performs the steps of: passing the bar through an opening in the arm so that the bar and the arm are approximately perpendicular; passing the arm through the second opening in the holder; passing the bar through the first opening in the holder with the biased member in the moving position; and returning the biased member to the resting position wherein the biased member exerts a bias force against the bar to bind the to prevent movement of the arm parallel to the central axis.